American Art | The Three Stooges

Over the course of decades, there has never been an event or incident, no matter how catastrophic or euphoric, that could usurp my duties as an American art dealer. Neither the force of the fiercest hurricane, the pandemonium of financial collapse, the paralyzing fear of terror within my own city, nor the disruption of world governments could keep me from my duties. Everything changes tomorrow at ten-thirty am, eastern standard time. This world altering event will spread across the nation from east to west. People of all ages will be profoundly impacted, perhaps forever irreversibly altered. There is no way to insulate yourself, no where to hide, for even if you could resist the overwhelming, nearly drug-induced impulse to view it, you will soon be infected by those around you.

So please, don’t call me tomorrow morning for I am not able to resist and will not be in the gallery. I shall go with the masses, a veritable pilgrimage, and I will sit transfixed as I set my gaze on the giant screen. I will be reminded that all human endeavors are simply not as important as any of us think. Social convention, expectation, and status are not worthy aspirations. Three men will show the way and I will be among the first to witness the sheer genius. Many of you already know that you will soon do the same.

Tomorrow, Friday the thirteenth, The Three Stooges returns to screens everywhere in America. The world will be a better place if we allow the child within us to live again. Hail Curly!!

Louis M. Salerno, the founding owner of Questroyal Fine Art, began his entrepreneurial career as a successful seller of thoroughbred breeding stock. He discovered his interest in American art in the 1970s and quickly became a leading collector and dealer, establishing Questroyal in the late 1980s. Lou continues to promote nineteenth- and twentieth-century American art, fascinated in particular with landscapes that he calls “honest works of a land long insulated from civilization,” and the artists who created them, “unencumbered by academic training or convention.”